This site shows the years of construction, first flights, and the continued adventures of Chad and Bekah in our RV-7

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Sunday, September 13, 2009

Tie Downs and Aileron Bellcrank Brackets

Continuing on the Spar I manufactured the Spacers, Match drilled all the holes and installed the Tie down/Bell Crank brackets on the left wing. This step ended up taking a long time due to all the fabrication necessary to make these parts fit.

I started by using a junker miter saw to cut the aluminum stock. It worked perfect but I did make sure to cut slowly here.

Drilling the lightening holes was a royal pain. Getting those things centered and securing the spacer was the most difficult. Once I started drilling with the Hole Saw it got HOT. Wood started smoking and I had to let it sit for a while a few times in the middle of the session to cool. I was able to get the holes drilled and all in all turned out well, but I would recommend a tough/sharp hole saw and lots of patience for this one.

Assembly and priming of the tie down was more complex than I thought. Lots of drilling, then back drilling, then countersinking and of course all the metal prep work that goes along with Priming. For these pieces I am using a rattle can as its quick and easy and has proven in the past to dry really hard.. I have no concerns about the quality of the rattle can primer on appropriately prepared metal.

The final assembly is complete on the left wing. Everything fit well and the spacers went into the spar pretty snug which is what I was looking for. I will get more pictures while the right one goes together, but I will be using a drilled hardwood block for a drill guide to make it even more accurate. The attached pics show the tie down with the threaded Eye Bolt installed and the other side of the spar where the Aileron Bellcrank brackets are installed.